3.
INTEGRATION DISABILITIES
Once
the information coming into the brain is registered, it
has to be understood. At least two steps are required to
do this: sequencing and abstraction.
Suppose that your brain recorded the following three graphic
symbols: d, o, g. No problems with visual perception. But
to make sense of the perception, you have to place the symbols
in the right order, or sequence. Is it d-o-g, or g-o-d or
d-g-o, or what? Then you have to infer meaning from the
context in which the word is used, both a general meaning
and a specific meaning. For example, "the dog"
and "your dog" have very different meanings. The
ability to draw general applications from specific words
and to attach subtle shading to the basic meanings of words
is referred to as "abstract thinking."
The
process of integrating input, of understanding what your
brain has recorded, thus requires both sequencing and abstraction.
Your child might have a disability in one area or the other,
or both. A child who has difficulty sequencing what comes
in from the eyes is said to have a visual sequencing disability.
So, too, the child might have difficulty with visual abstraction
or auditory abstraction. Here is more on:
